FULL Crane Reflects on a Favor – an Eco-opera (Kristin Norderval) Oslo 2023 Rosanna Vibe, Flora Ångman, Viktoria Nikolova
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Crane Reflects on a Favor - an Eco-opera
- Composer: Norderval Kristin
- Libretto: Kristin Norderval Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Christiania Sailcloth Factory, Mainstage, Oslo National Academy of Art, Academy of Opera, Oslo, Norway
- Recorded: September 2, 2023
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Rosanna Vibe, Flora Ångman, Viktoria Nikolova, Kristin Norderval
- Conductor:
- Orchestra: Instrumental Ensemble
- Stage Director: Jill Sigman
- Costume Designer: Jill Sigman, Lydia May Hann
- Lighting Designer: Kaja Lund
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Kristin Norderval
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: Vimeo FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Performed on the site of the former Christiania Sailcloth Factory, “Crane Reflects on a Favor” is Part Two of the operatic diptych “The Sailmaker’s Wife”. The diptych is loosely based on the Japanese folktale “Tsuru no Ongaeshi” (Crane’s return of a favor) about an injured crane who pulls feathers from her body to weave a magic fabric that sustains and enriches the person who kept her alive. Offering her body to create the fabric, she is eventually driven to depletion by human greed and hubris. Part One of the diptych explores the story from the human point of view. Part Two explores the story from the Crane´s point of view.
“Crane Reflects on a Favor” is a post-operatic allegory; a dream-like sonic performance installation, sung in three parts by three women, each representing one of the stages of the crane’s response to her offering: first as a gift given freely, then in response to pleading, and finally after demands of ownership.
Reflecting on the western industrial extractive relationship to our earth-mother’s body, this story offers a powerful metaphor. Cranes are over 10 million years old. They are descendants of the dinosaurs whose bones are the fossils in the fossil fuels we extract for wealth and power. That power, however, is simultaneously creating our own demise by destroying the body that sustains us. “Crane Reflects on a Favor” creates a sonic space to collectively mourn this almost inconceivable existential state.
The EVII (Expanded Vocal Improvising Instrument) – the performer-controlled realtime interactive vocal processing system used in this work – was developed through a Ph.D. Research Fellowship at the
Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO), Academy of Opera.
“Crane Reflects on a Favor” was produced by VoxLAB in collaboration with LOOS Foundation (Den Haag), and the Academy of Opera at KHiO. Additional funding was provided by the Norsk Komponistforening, Komponistenes Vederlagsfond, Det norske komponistfond, & Kulturdirektoratet.